Johnston insurance agent charged with embezzlement

A Johnston County insurance agent has been charged with embezzling premiums paid by Latino policy holders, authorities said Tuesday.

Leilani Arellano, 23, of 1067 Lake Wendell Road in Wendell, was arrested Oct. 18 on five counts each of embezzlement by an insurance agent and obtaining property by false pretense and one count of attempting to obtain property by false pretense.

State Department of Insurance investigators said Arellano took the cash payments from Latino clients between January and July, and she charged them fees for services that were supposed to be free and took that money as well. In some cases, her clients received bills stating that they had not paid their premiums and that their coverage had lapsed, authorities said.

Allstate Insurance Co. fired Arellano in July, authorities said.

Anyone who suspects that they have been victimized by the alleged embezzlement scheme is asked to call the DOI's Criminal Investigations Division at 919-807-6840 or Detective Jamey Snipes of the Johnston county Sheriff’s Office at 919-989-5020.